Lanphier tested, but triumphs

Monday

Jul 1, 2013 at 12:01 AMJul 1, 2013 at 12:02 AM

Both Springfield Lanphier and Manual had something to be positive about following Lanphier’s 53-51 win in the championship game of the 10th annual A.J. Guyton River City Hoops Festival Sunday afternoon.

For Lanphier, it was winning the title.

EVAN WIXOM

Both Springfield Lanphier and Manual had something to be positive about following Lanphier’s 53-51 win in the championship game of the 10th annual A.J. Guyton River City Hoops Festival Sunday afternoon.
For Lanphier, it was winning the title.

For Manual, it was realizing that their young team could hang with some of the toughest competition downstate.

“Lanphier was dominating this whole tournament, so the way our guys went out there and competed — getting a shot at the buzzer to beat them — I was very proud of the way these guys competed,” Manual coach Derrick Booth said.

Entering the championship game, the smallest margin of victory for Lanphier was 16 points over the course of two days at the shootout. Sunday, Lanphier rolled to wins over Central (46-26) and Thornton Fractional North (47-16) to get into the finals.

Once there, Manual’s tough, physical style of play hampered Lanphier, but the Rams had trouble bottling up Lanphier’s star senior guard Larry Austin Jr. Austin, who’s received offers from a variety of D-I schools, including Bradley, Illinois and Iowa, scored 19 points in the game, including 12 in the first half.

Still, Manual had a shot to win with 2.3 seconds left, but a desperation shot from half-court was way off mark.

“We’ve been playing really well, our defense has really stepped up,” Lanphier coach Blake Turner said. “Every game today was a blowout for us except for that last game. Whenever we play Manual, it’s always going to be a battle, it’s always going to be physical, and it’s always going to be fun.”

Metamora and Central were both eliminated in the first game of bracket play Sunday. Central lost to aforementioned Lanphier 46-26, while the Redbirds, who went 2-1 at the shootout on Saturday, were eliminated by TF North, 49-36.

CLOSE CALL: For Manual, the appearance in the championship game almost didn’t happen.

In the first round of bracket play, the Rams were in a struggle against Aurora East.

Aurora East seemingly had the chance to win the game, inbounding the ball with the game tied at 47 with five seconds left.
But Manual freshman Da’Monte Williams stole the ball from an Aurora East player at halfcourt and drove in for the game-winning layup as time expired.

“Da’Monte knew we needed a play; he didn’t want to settle for them having the chance to win it,” Booth said. “He made something happen at the end to win it for us. That’s just a freshman who’s playing beyond his years. He makes big plays, he’s very mature, and it’s very rare you find a freshman who plays on that level.”

SUMMER PLANS: While the summer league basketball season may be over, neither team is taking a break from basketball.
“We’ve got a lot of kids that play AAU basketball so the weight room will be open, we’ll have the shooting gun out for guys that want to get in the gym and put up shots,” Turner said. “I just challenged the guys that know this is our last tournament of the summer and it’s over, don’t let this be the last time I see you. Don’t take three months off until school starts. Get in on your own, get in the weight room, and just keep working on your game and getting better.”

Booth shared the same sentiment, and believes his young Rams will be more ready than ever come the regular season.
“We’ll still have open gyms; we’ll still have weight lifting. They’re motivated right now. They can taste it,” Booth said. “For this group to experience the success they’ve had this summer, they can taste it and they want to get better. We’re excited.”

Evan Wixom can be reached at 686-3214 or ewixom@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @EVANWixom.